Items in the mirror may be closer than they appear

I'm supposed to be doing something else, so my mind wandered over here.

And here's my question. If anyone had bet you, on January 20th, 2009, the first day of the Obama Administration, that one of the more sordid scandals of the social sector in 2009 would involve undercover videographers masquerading as a pimp and prostitute that would result in the Congress, the IRS and several states (including CA, LA - which had no contracts to cut - and MS) voting to cut off funding to an organization reknown for helping register marginalized voters, would you have taken the bet?

And here's the real question. I can't decide if this is utterly predictable or actually surprising, given how politics work these days.

OK, back to work.